What is meditation?

“Meditation means our conscious growth into the Infinite. When we meditate, what we actually do is enter into a vacant, calm, silent mind and allow ourselves to be nourished and nurtured by Infinity itself.”

– Sri Chinmoy

Meditation opens the door to our soul’s infinite peace and potentialities. Inside each of us lies something greater and calmer than we can ever imagine. Since ancient times, there have been individuals who have discovered this rich inner treasure and sought to show others the way to enlightenment, also called Self-realization or God-realization. Across the wide variety of traditions, the common thread in all teachings is meditation.

Meditation is a journey of self-discovery. By making the mind calm and quiet, we can go deep within and discover who we really are. By doing so, we find lasting peace and happiness and learn how to effectively solve our life-problems and realize our highest aspirations.

Q: Why do we meditate?

Sri Chinmoy: “Why do we meditate? We meditate because this world of ours has not been able to fulfil us. The so-called peace that we feel in our day-to-day life is five minutes of peace after ten hours of anxiety, worry and frustration. We are constantly at the mercy of the negative forces that are all around us: jealousy, fear, doubt, worry, anxiety and despair. These forces are like monkeys. When they get tired of biting us and take rest for a few minutes, then we say that we are enjoying peace. But this is not real peace at all, and the next moment they will attack us again.

“It is only through meditation that we can get lasting peace, divine peace. If we meditate soulfully in the morning and receive peace for only one minute, that one minute of peace will permeate our whole day. And when we have a meditation of the highest order, then we can get really abiding peace, light and delight. We need meditation because we want to grow in light and fulfil ourselves in light. If this is our aspiration, if this is our thirst, then meditation is the only way.

“If we feel that we are satisfied with what we have and what we are, then there is no need for us to enter into the field of meditation. The reason we enter into meditation is because we have an inner hunger. We feel that within us there is something luminous, something vast, something divine. We feel that we need this thing very badly; only right now we do not have access to it. Our inner hunger comes from our spiritual need.”

BEGINNING MEDITATIONGetting Started: Concentration
“For a beginner it is better to start with concentration. Otherwise, the moment you try to make your mind calm and vacant, millions of uncomely thoughts will enter into you and you will not be able to meditate even for one second. If you concentrate, at that time you challenge the wrong thoughts that are trying to enter into you. So in the beginning just practise concentration for a few minutes.”

“When we concentrate, we are like a bullet entering into something, or we are like a magnet pulling the object of concentration towards us. At that time, we do not allow any thought to enter into our mind, whether it is good or bad. In concentration the entire mind has to be focused on a particular object. If we are concentrating on the petal of a flower, we try to feel that nothing else exists in the entire world but us and the petal.”

YOGA MEDITATIONQuieting the Mind

No matter what path you follow for meditation, the first and foremost task is to try to make the mind calm and quiet. If the mind is constantly roaming, if it is all the time a victim of merciless thoughts, then you will make no progress whatsoever.”

“How will you make the mind calm and quiet? The mind has its own power, and right now this power is stronger than your present eagerness and determination to meditate. But if you can get help from your heart, then gradually you will be able to control your mind. The heart, in turn, gets constant assistance from the soul, which is all light and all power.”

“Yoga is union. It is the union of the individual soul with the Supreme Self. Yoga is the spiritual science that teaches u how the Ultimate Reality can be realized in life itself.”

BOOKS & MUSIC FOR MEDITATION

In his lifetime, Sri Chinmoy wrote over 1,500 books – from collections of short poems to essays and lectures – on every imaginable subject encompassing the human experience.
He also composed and performed more than 22,000 spiritual songs, some in his native tongue of Bengali, some in English. Sri Chinmoy’s music has a deep meditative quality that is both tranquil and energizing at the same time.
Please visit Heart-Light Distributors website for all available book and CD titles.

Meditation: Man-Perfection in God-Satisfaction
Presented with the simplicity and clarity that have become the hallmark of Sri Chinmoy’s writings, this book will take you from the beginning stages of concentration and meditation through the advanced practice of contemplation. 261 pages, $12

Flute Music for Meditation
These solo flute compositions were played by Sri Chinmoy during a high state of meditation. Herein lies the love, power, wisdom, peace and freedom that can be discovered by listening to his music. This is the perfect ambient music for meditation.
46min, $10

The Jewels of Happiness
Inspiration and wisdom to guide your life-journey
The Jewels of Happiness is a treasure chest of wisdom and joy – a compilation of succinct and insightful pieces of prose, practical exercises and uplifting aphorisms and verse, many of them published here for the first time. 224 pages, $12

America The Beautiful
America the Beautiful is a meditation on the moral and spiritual roots of our nation. Written in approachable but inspired language, this book evokes the spirit of the Founding Fathers and the great luminaries who have graced the soil of our nation, and presents their views clearly and simply in both poetry and prose. It offers a rare glimpse into the soul of America presented by one of the greatest philosophers of our time.
118 pages, $10